Well, moving on.

For starters, my 2 month internship at the Ministry of Home Affairs ended on 14  May. It was most certainly an eye opening experience that gave me somewhat of a glimpse into the life that I will be leading after I return from my studies in 4 years time.  It was an immense pleasure working under Terence, Zhongren, Gillian, Agnes and Brian. It is extremely reassuring to see such committed and passionate people being given the responsibility of contributing to our nations policy-making mechanism.

A big shout-out to all the NSF’s who made our time there all the more comfortable and meaningful. I’ll always remember Lionel having a $50 +++ Carousel buffet for lunch while serving his NS and compare it to those aromatic moments I had in the cookhouses of the SAF.

From the left, that’s Gillian, Agnes, Clarence, Zhongren, Mansoor, Terence and Brian.

In other news, the 99 Day Countdown Party to the Youth Olympic’s took place at Scape at Orchard on 7 May. Awesome time hosting with fellow hosts Jean Danker and Kelly Latimer as well as modelling the YOG uniforms with the rest of the presenters!

Well, security was kinda tight during the event due to the PM’s presence. They almost didn’t let me and Kelly go through because we didn’t have our passes when we were due on stage in like 5 mins! Thumbs up for awesome security, but not for being helpful.

With PM and the other Ministers in the open like that, I wouldn’t be surprised if there had been snipers in the area. At one point in time, Laurence told us that PM was stepping on this wire during his speech which might make it go off and he instructed Kelly to run to him and pass him her mike.  I wonder how the snipers would have reacted to that: some running up to the PM waving something in her hand.

Hmmm.

Having just recently completed my National Service, I stand at the crossroads once again as I look towards starting a new chapter of my life. The next few months are going to be pretty intense and exciting and this blog is going to serve as a platform for me to share what I’ll be up to in the coming months. Just a glimpse of what’s in store:

May 2010:

99 Day YOG Countdown: Co-hosting with Jean Danker at Scape.

June 2010:

Overseas Community Involvement Project, in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity Singapore.

July:

Pre-Departure Course with PSC

August:

The Inaugural Youth Olympic Games where I’ll be hosting for numerous events, including being a sports presenter for Tennis, Cycling and Soccer.

September:

Embark on what I hope is going to be a truly life-changing experience in London.

In addition to that, I hope to use this blog as a platform to comment on the various issues and quirkiness of everyday life.

Apart from the Kallang Wave that died halfway in the VIP area (Haha, it was rather empty during the pre-show segment) and the fact that my voice was almost about to break, it was a fantastic night! Many thanks to Ms. Cheong, Mdm. Loong and of course Kalpana and Marc for the ‘heart-thumping’ experience!

With the Ground Scatter Crew!

They are SUPER GOOD! They won the International Breakdancing Competition!

Oh, haha, Marc and I went to KFC without removing our make-up because we didn’t have make-up remover with us and that old guy there kept staring at us. Can you imagine? Gosh.

More pictures at my Flickr.

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

William Butler Yeats

23rd Students’ Council of Victoria Junior College.

23rd Reco!

For more photos, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/mansoor/.

Hmmm. Did I mention that I hate chairs?

Well, here goes.

I hate chairs.

But, negatives aside, the hall looks marvellous and that brought with it a strange afterglow filled by satisfaction.

It’s been 4 months in JC life already and yet, our actual journey begins tomorrow. It’s indeed amazing that in just 4 months we, the 23rds, have progressed from being Council Nominees to elects-to-be-invested-in-1-day’s-time. SDD preparation and planning is picking up and it’s not going to let up till December. It’s been an overwhelming ride and I’m sure that it’ll be over before we know it, just like it was over in VS. So people, treasure your moments in life, as you will miss them when they are gone.

Oh well, tomorrow’s the day.

Those wonderful black tags.

To the 22nds, what you have learnt, you have passed down, what we have learnt, we will pass down. Don’t you worry. You have left the council in good hands.

_

And now it’s about to end.

And it’s that time of the year again.

And I hate it.

I can’t wait for this academic year to pass. For everything else, I just wish it would slow down.

We say “It’s not how many times you fall that we’re worried about; it’s how many times you get up“
We say “The difference between a winner and a champion is that the Winner got the medal, the Champion won the race.”
We say encouragement isn’t about patting ourselves on the back when we do well; it’s telling ourselves to do better when we are facing difficulty.

http://www.mrsiow.blogspot.com

VJ did extremely well as well. 3rd for guys! Don’t worry guys, you guys performed splendidly out there and you’re still our champions! Congratulations to the girls who emerged overall champions! =))

(I actually have photos which I’d like to put up, but everytime I connect my phone to my laptop, it crashes. Some stupid virus.)

Okay, now with bluetooth technology and my dad’s phone -

No prizes for guessing which schools banner dominated again. Heh.

__

And now, on to the VS/VJ Forum to which I rushed down after Cross Country. Thanks again Mr. Siow for moving one seat! There were, of course, the usual and expected emotive responses about risking the Victorian Spirit and 130 years of culture, which I need not discuss, knowing that none of us would want to ever comprimise on that. Here are some of my views after listening to what transpired yesterday evening:

1. Well, firstly, I think the point that was emphasised yesterday over and over again was that, unlike what was mentioned in The New Paper about details of some proposal being presented during the forum, there are no proposals or anything of that sort in place at the moment. In this increasingly diverse education landscape, VS and VJ will have to adapt themselves to the environment and better themselves. Going Co-Ed and a merger are only 2 of the many other possible options to achieve that ultimate goal. The forum was held to include and hear the views of Victorians before any decision was made, unlike the other time in 2005 when nothing was known definitely. For this, I would like to sincerely applaud Mr. Chan and Mr. Low!
2. Another consideration that struck me was that of continuity. Before any proposals of such magnitude are submitted, various considerations will have to be made and rigorous planning will have to be done. This will not be an easy task and will take time. A couple of years at the very least. We all know that staff in Singapore schools are rotated, including the principal ( about every 5 years). And I was just wondering what would happen if either of the principals are reposted. How will we know if the next principals will be in support of this and will be equally motivated to see the proposal through to the end? I draw my views from the previous principals. And if MOE practices flexibility in its posting policies given the cirumstances, I stand corrected for this point.
3. Why fix something that is not broken? VJ is doing well and many might say that VS is not where it is supposed to be. But are academics the only thing that need to be considered? What is the role of education? To nurture. The Victorian Spirit and brotherhood is something that you have to live through to understand and will be able to teach you way more important things that matter in life other than books. Read Mr. Siow’s post on Thomas Ho. The fighting spirit that Thomas showed was something that Mr. Low vowed he would never let die and I believe him.
4. But at the end of the day, we want both schools to continue to be the great institutions that they are and even better and as long as that remains the motivation behind our actions, we will never go wrong.

And that was with Mr. Low leading. Too bad we weren’t treated to the pleasure of listening to Mr. Chan’s operatic vocals!

Closure after closure, and it’s downhill all the way.

There is no such thing as a ‘self-made’ man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.

- George Adams 

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, Don’t throw the baby out with the Bath water.

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying It’s raining cats and dogs.

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That’s how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, Dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance way. Hence the saying a thresh hold.

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables a nd did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old..

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat..

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they wou ld tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.